Dear Rhonda and Stephanie, Hope you are keeping warm!! Brrrrrrr. Just a quick note w/a recent photo of Harper. I can't believe he will be a year old in just a few short weeks. I ordered this new "couch" for him as we call it, for his birthday a little early....and he's definitely in charge when he's on it! He is the sweetest and smartest boy...loves the snow and is still such a snuggler. A perfect companion and very good citizen (and a big goofball!). I'm going to neuter him next month, just after his birthday. All the best to you this spring and summer! Best, Sara P.S. After a bath the other night...he got away from me and ran into the spare bedroom/storage. Such a beautiful boy! Hello Rhonda and the Snitker family-
Happy new year! I hope this email finds you doing well. I saw you have another young adult up for adoption, and that made me think that you might appreciate receiving an update on Ginger. In short, she's doing great! Just before Christmas she finished up her first obedience class, which she passed with flying colors. The trainer kept commenting on how calm and trainable English Goldens are. Thankfully, Ginger lived up to the reputation. Now that the holidays are over, we plan to move on to the next level of obedience training with the same trainer. After receiving my vet's okay, I began taking Ginger on very short runs in October. We started with just running about 1 mile at a time, then worked up in half-mile increments every few weeks over the next couple of months. On Saturday she ran 5 miles of my 10 mile run with me (we met Mike at the halfway point so he could give her a ride home), and she did great. She notices when I put on my running gear and sits by me anxiously and knows for sure what is coming. One day my oldest son and I were going to go 6 miles (him on his bike), and I knew that was too long for her, and boy, was she said when we walked out the door without her. I used to run with my other dogs all the time but haven't since they started slowing down as they became senior dogs, and it has been so nice to have somebody to run with again. Plus, she keeps me motivated on the cold days to get out there even for a little while! Ginger has impacted our family in only good ways. Our boys just adore her, often asking if she can sleep in their rooms until Mike and I head to bed. They love to play with her, snuggle her, and pet her. And on a busy day when I can't walk or run with Ginger, Zach, our oldest, can take her on a quick walk before or after school and the two of them get some extra bonding in. Even Maggie, our almost 15 year-old Springer Spaniel, has seemed to have new life breathed into her since Ginger came along. Occasionally the two of them will do a little tug-of-war with a toy, and Ginger always concedes. I know Ginger would like Maggie to play more, but unfortunately Maggie just isn't stable enough on her feet to handle that. One of my favorite things about Ginger is her curiosity. There are a few things that just really catch her attention. She does NOT appreciate very high-flying airplanes that leave a white trail in the sky. She always barks at those, yet low-flying airplanes coming in for a landing don't phase her. The other night we were upstairs getting our boys ready for bed and heard Ginger barking and growling (something we hadn't heard yet in the 3+ months she's been with us) downstairs, so we came down to investigate. It turned out that our TV had gone into sleep mode while on pause, and the DirecTV logo started bouncing around the black screen. Ginger wanted to let that logo know she was here to protect her family! We were all so cracked up by that. Tonight, as we finally have a few inches of snow, we have enjoyed watching her go outside and stick her whole head in the snow as well as eating bunches of it. She is just a joy to have around. The two comments we hear most often from friends and strangers about Ginger are, "She's so beautiful," and "She's so calm," or a variation of that, "Is she always this calm?" My parents, who have an American Golden that is just 2 months older than Ginger were here for the holidays. Their dog is a good dog, and very sweet, but even they were impressed by Ginger's calm nature. Sure, she has her playful, excitable moments, and that is fine with us because she is young and we want that. She's definitely not a boring dog! Mike and I tell everyone who mentions wanting a dog about Snitker Goldens. We know it's thanks to your imprinting that Ginger is such an amazing girl. We are so thankful that Mike stumbled upon your website back in August when we were grieving our other Springer. Although I still miss my dog every single day, Ginger has been so good for me in helping me deal with that sadness. At this point I know that Ginger will be the dog our boys most remember from their childhood (as opposed to the Springers we had/have had since before the boys were born), and I look forward to all of us continuing to make many happy memories with her. Even though she's just been with us a little over 3 months, I think I speak for all of us when I say we couldn't even imagine life without her. I'm attaching a few of my favorite more recent pictures of Ginger for you to see. We sure do love her! Take care, Sarah Zinn-Burggraaf Though our pups join new families after starting with us, they are all still family! and we all get excited about their accomplishments. Great Job, Bailey! Enjoy the photos of this spoiled boy!! Life is good
Jackie Hi Rhonda and Stephanie, We recently celebrated Elsa's one year birthday (Ina and Piano litter). The girls can't wait to celebrate her Gotcha Date, too. It's been an amazing 10 months that we've had her. I tell everyone you are like a holistic breeder, and after hearing about some other breeders, I totally believe it. Before we got her you taught her so much, like waiting patiently for her meals to letting humans walk through the door first. She had manners before we even got her. Potty training was easy, too. I love telling people about the updates you gave us daily or weekly about our puppy from infancy to 8 weeks while under your care. I've wanted to write a testimonial all year. It was a rough start those first 2 months because spunky Elsa had a ton of energy, and I had a lot of learning to do. Thank you for being available for emails and phone calls. It helped. Patience from our family and hard work from Elsa and us proved to be extremely rewarding. She is certified as a "Canine Good Citizen" and I am going to take Therapy Dog classes next with her. She's highly trainable and very smart. We pet everything, even her teeth. Elsa is amazing. She LOVES people, loves animals, loves snow, and LOVES HER FAMILY! Here's why I really wanted to write now. We went to a 4th of July parade. I was not sure it was the right decision, but I figured now would be a good time to try. There were well over a thousand people there, as it's in a Twin Cities suburb. We walked a mile to our usual spot. She sat and watched the parade without incident and even met a clown. The truck and car honking weren't her favorite parts. I had to leave early to get my daughter from the marching band to another parade. I walked through at least 200-300 people in close quarters while the parade was going. Elsa healed at my leg the whole time. About 199 people commented on her beauty. Two families wanted to talk to me about her. Meanwhile two elementary children and an 18 month old pet her. I'm always cautious. Amid the chaos, she couldn't have been more calm and responsive -and caring for those little children. They pet everything and she loved it. We are looking forward to many wonderful years and experiences with our Elsa. (Named before the movie Frozen came out.) : ) Thank you!!! Rhonda and Stephanie,
Emma celebrated her 1 year birthday yesterday! I'm attaching a few pictures for you. I know some people dread the puppy stage (other than they are sooo cute!) with potty training, chewing, obedience problems, etc. but that was not the case with our Snitker cream of the crop (at least we think so) Emma. Marc and I feel so blessed to have gotten Emma, and I'm sure she feels the same about us! Our families, friends and people we meet on our walks are so surprised at well behaved, unique and SOFT her coat is. We have been taking her to a dog park to burn off some energy when the weather is decent. She is getting better at riding in the car and once we get her to the park . . . she just loves to run with the other dogs! I've said it before and will say it again, THANK YOU for the imprinting you do with your puppies. We have switched Emma over to Orijen's Adult Dog food and only give her grain-free treats. Her weight is 65 pounds, and the vet said that is a perfect weight for her. We have a dog sitter come in M-F to play with Emma for an hour. Emma goes crazy over Rose (dog sitter) . . . . Emma loves Rose and Rose loves Emma! A vacation is planned for Spirit Lake in July. This will be the 1st long ride for Emma since we picked her up from your place. I anticipate that Emma will enjoy her dog cousins at the lake and will be exhausted every evening. Take care. Terri & Marc Barnes Dear Rhonda,
The summer adventures have started with Emma! We saw a used bicycle pet trailer for sale and thought it would be a perfect way to bring Emma with us on our first bicycle adventure. And.....three days, 70 miles later, Emma successfully completed the long bike trail. She did fantastic on the trip. Once she got her exercise in, Emma was more than happy to ride in the trailer (she usually laid down, but I couldn't resist this picture of her!). I think her favorite part was when we had to walk our bikes through the cold tunnels on the trail. Oh, and did we ever receive quite the comments when people realized there was a dog in the trailer!! Take care, Hi Snitker Goldens, My call name is Bailey, I had a great trip home. I enclosed a few photos of my trip. We started out in the kennel from my old home. Only made it 10 min and then I needed to take a break. I got held for a short ride after that and then I moved to my big kennel to sleep until we got to Rochester MN for our 2nd Break and run. From Rochester to White Bear Lake MN I slept as well. After my 3rd big break and run, I left for my new home in Isanti. I got out and played and then slept again. My vet visit on Monday the 5th went very well no problems and my vet said I was a keeper. Jackie Marv and Bailey More fun in the pond. He is fast, and can catch the tad poles. I am so glad he listens. 'Leave it' works well. He will drop them once he catches them. Bailey is doing very well with all is commands. He will sit and wait while we fill his food dish. Sleeping through the night fine. Asking to go out as needed. He always waits to be 2nd to go out the doors or up and down the stairs. I mess up most of the time, I ask him to go first, he gives me a confused look, I am working on my part with his help. The hold to calm him has been invaluable to help him calm when he gets really wound up. He will start his first classes next Monday. I thought he was going to be a bit shy when I first picked him up. But he is very brave and thinks he is the big dog. He gets his next set of shots in the first week of June. I will let you know his weight at that point. He is going to be a big boy when he grows into his paws. We are very happy and getting so much enjoyment with Bailey. Everyone that meets him has commented on how well behaved and sweet he is. His disposition is wonderful. He is an excellent communicator with the other dogs as well. Enjoy the photos Jackie We spent the next few days meeting the family. What a lot of work.
Sleeping again. Bailey Hi Stephanie,
Thanks so much to you and Rhonda for the update yesterday! I haven't read all of the articles yet, but all great info. Harper had his second vet visit recently and now weighs 23 pounds! Photo below is his sadness/fatigue after the shots. Ha! All is well and the vet scanned him to test his microchip (I think he's kind of a gadget guy ;)) and of course, found it and the numbers matched. Thx much for the reminder on completing the registration. He's such a great dog and so much fun! Sara My Gabe was a young adult placement for us. He was almost ten months old when he went to live with John and Bonnie. Still miss this boy. . . Rhonda - In only 10 days, Gabe (also Gaber), has totally become part of our family. Gabe is a 10 month young adult, he has the perfect temperament we were looking for most of all, our Veterinarian has declared him in perfect health, and he is beautiful. We have 4 children and 7 grand children who are often together for family affairs, an 11 year old Golden, and one of our retirement activities is taking our dogs to visit in hospitals and retirement homes. So we absolutely had to have a dog with the perfect temperament to fit into our lifestyle. Our search process for another Golden was to begin identifying breeders through word of mouth, internet search and phone interviews. Having been Golden owners for 20 years, two Americans and one English, we knew the breed, and knew the advantages & disadvantages of a young pup vs. and young adult, but we had not researched breeders in many years. We think we identified the top few breeders of Engish Goldens in the country, and Snitker Goldens sure qualifies as one of the best. You might be aiming to be THE best breeder, and based on our experience with your process, you could be. Your adoption process is rigorous, thorough, transparent and honest, and we trusted the journey with you. Required some patience on our part! Gabe was a serious purchase for us. We value that you took the placement so seriously also. The multiple visits, emails and phone calls led to a perfect placement, so far. Of course Gabe is a 10 month old dog, so there will be some challenges along the way, and we knew this. Although Gabe is about as perfect and problem free as we could have hoped for. We also knew it would take some time and diligence on our part to earn his trust. For example, the other day we logged the times of "Gabe interactions" and there we 28 various actions for feeding, watering, bathroom outside, walking, obedience, ramp training into car, brushing coat, brushing teeth (new - he likes it), washing paws, etc etc. Both the adoption fee and time invested has been worth it! Here are some thoughts about Gaber's first days with us. On the positive side, Gabe has been a sweet, gentle, obedient addition to our family. He is not aggressive with Daisy, our "elderly" Golden Retriever, and is wonderful around children. He does not jump up on people, and seldom barks. He has allowed other small dogs to jump up on him. He has adapted quickly to his new environment. He is learning to walk on the leash along side Daisy, and obeys commands readily. He was calm and quiet during his first visit to the vet, and seemed to enjoy his first bath here. All in all, a smooth transition from the farm to the city. As far as the process goes, overall everything went pretty smoothly. Rhonda has been very thorough in sharing information and giving tips on how to handle Gabe. His exposure to small children at the farm is most likely the reason he is so comfortable with our small grandchildren. The only negatives we can think of is his early rising time (5 AM), and he still needs to learn what is and is not a toy. He loves to carry his toys around. He does willingly give up any item when we tell him "no". It was great to get a young dog who has already been through the difficult puppy months, and who knows the key behavior commands. And thankfully, Gabe has the wonderful sweet disposition that we love about this breed. He couldn't be more gentle or loving. If anything, it is hard for the two of us to give him the amount of attention he craves. So glad we are retired and can stay home with him all day. He might not have done as well in a home where everyone went to work all day, and left him in his kennel. His placement with us was perfect. When we do have to leave for short trips, he has Daisy here to keep him company. And frequent visits with the grandchildren are a bonus as well. We look forward to taking him with us when we travel, and anticipate that he will enjoy spending time in a warmer climate in the winter, where we can walk outside everyday. John and Bonnie Leinart Hi Rhonda - Thought I would have John write a note saying how well things are going for me here in Moline. Can't believe it will be 6 weeks tomorrow! I have been the star of my dog obedience class so far, thanks to the great start you gave me before I got here. Pretty much have all the commands nailed, after only 3 classes. The trainer can't believe how well I do for a "young adult" - 11 months old today! And he can't believe how mellow I am around other dogs. One class had 7 German Shepard's, a Mastiff, and a Pit Bull, and I fit right in. John can command sit-stay, or down-stay, and I stay there until he comes to release me, even if he walks away. Next Wednesday I go to a nursing home to try to achieve the first level of pet therapy, through the Bright and Beautiful Pet Therapy Dog association. My health is excellent. Finished all my shots and Lyme Disease inoculation today. I've gained 4 pounds, and John has lost 4 pounds taking care of me! Maybe you should advertise "get a Snitker Golden, and lose weight". My neutering is scheduled July 9 (yuck). John and Bonnie couldn't love a dog more than me, except maybe their 11 year old Daisy. And Daisy really likes me too! In fact the whole extended family wants to kidnap me and take me to their homes. I sure do like it when the grandkids come over, and that's when I act most like a puppy. Sure I've had a few teenage moments, like trying to eat a throw rug once. But when I am corrected I get the message immediately and don't repeat the mistake. And if I slink really low, behind the counter, John and Bonnie can't stay mad at me for 30 seconds. But I really have been almost entirely a very well behaved dog. People consistently say I am the very most friendly, sweet, affectionate dog they have ever seen. I have never mouthed anyone, nor jumped on anyone, and I've only barked 3 times in 6 weeks. Nothing spooks me, once I got used to some different city noises, except one night a raccoon living in a tree behind the house scared me a little. Had to sit in John's lap that night. Hope all is well in Waukon, and hope all my latest nieces and nephews placed this spring are doing as well as me. Gaber And here's Gaber while he was still with us - spending some time with Little G I'm so proud of you, Gabe. Miss you lots. Just knowing you're loved and thriving is enough. :) __________________________________________________________________________________ Young Adult Placements We have a few young adults whom we'll be placing this summer. Stay tuned for more information on these Goldens. For more information, please contact Stephanie at: stephanie.snitkergoldens@gmail.com. Emma and Finley are full sisters, almost a year old. Lulu is just a little mighty mite from this season's Maggie litter. All three of these gals are Snitker Golden Girls! and all three had some time to meet, greet, and play together recently. . . here. . . let's see! . . . . . . From Emma's Family -
I have to tell you that Emma and Lily love to play together. Emma tries to make herself "small and calm" by laying down flat on the ground to play with Lily, but then Emma gets way too excited and starts running around. It is very cute and Emma is gentle with her. Callie just loves cuddling with "little Lily" as she calls her, and Ben is still "thinking about" if Lily will really get as big as Emma! Emma and Finley will have another reunion over Memorial Day weekend, so that should be fun to watch! We also found out that Emma loves to help with yard work. A tree of ours did not make it through the cold winter, and Emma was more than willing to help remove any roots that we left. Also, Ben had to bring in an item to school for math class that was used for measuring. The ONLY item in our house that would do (according to Ben) was Emma's measuring scoop we use for her food. It was way too cute to see how proud he was to share it! As you can see, we are having way too much fun enjoying our first spring with Emma. She is such a joy to have! Thanks so much! |